ATLANTA (AP) — Federal officials are granting another eight states flexibility from the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a call with reporters Tuesday that he has approved waivers for Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island.

The Obama administration is granting waivers in exchange for promises from states to improve how they prepare and evaluate students. In all, 19 states have been given waivers so far.

Officials say 26 states and Washington, D.C., applied for flexibility. The remaining applicants can still receive waivers.

The waivers are a stopgap measure until Congress rewrites the decade-old law, which has been up for renewal since 2007. Federal lawmakers agree the law needs to be changed, but they’ve bickered over how to do that.

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